My Catch-22

Even with draw balance of $2,877.90, the highest Sandra had ever seen, she would not fire me. She sat across from me at her desk and told me that my draw would be cut off, then asked me what my plans were. It was as if she expected me to quit. I told her I would just keep making calls and trying to sell something with every tool available, except duty, of course. Corporate had told me my health insurance would remain intact. The clarity of the situation was glistening. I had found my Catch-22.

I was doing horribly in sales and could be fired. But if I were fired the company would have no recourse to get the money back they had given me through draw. The only solution would be to accept me as employed and hope that when I sold something it would cover my draw. Unless I quit, which I would not, so as long as I stayed, there was a chance they would see their money. If I quit I would lose my health insurance. As long as I maintained employment the company bore the obligation of paying my insurance even though I was not selling anything and getting no paycheck. As long as I showed up for meetings, made phone calls and entered data into the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, I was still employed. Since I refused to quit and the company had no cause for termination, because I was doing a great job, my insurance that I had been co-paying about $130 a week for, was now being paid for, in full, by Stewart Services at no cost to myself. I could find nobody who would buy anything from me, so I no longer had an income and to maintain my health benefits, I could not quit. I had to file for unemployment.

This was readily accepted by the state of Florida as cause to fund me at the rate of $186 a week since I had a job with no pay check. If I had gotten fired I may not have been able to collect. Now being able to maintain steady and legal income alongside my free health care plan with no customers to bog down my day I was able to seek out paying work and go on job interviews.